Bradamante d'Este, Countess of Maccastorna (1550 - 1624,

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

) was an Italian noblewoman from the

House of Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

Biography

She and her elder sister

Marfisa Marfisa (also translated as "Marphisa") is a character in the Italian romantic epics ''Orlando innamorato'' by Matteo Maria Boiardo and ''Orlando Furioso'' by Ludovico Ariosto. She is the sister of Ruggiero but was separated from him in early chi ...

were illegitimate daughters of Francesco d'Este, though were legitimated a few years after their birth by both

pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII (, , born Ugo Boncompagni; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake ...

and by

Alfonso II d'Este Alfonso II d'Este (22 November 1533 – 27 October 1597) was Duke of Ferrara from 1559 to 1597. He was a member of the House of Este. Biography Alfonso was the elder son of Ercole II d'Este and Renée de France, the daughter of Louis XII of F ...

. In 1575 Bradamante married Ercole Bevilacqua, Count of Maccastorna, privy councillor and state and military advisor to

Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara Alfonso II d'Este (22 November 1533 – 27 October 1597) was Duke of Ferrara from 1559 to 1597. He was a member of the House of Este. Biography Alfonso was the elder son of Ercole II d'Este and Renée de France, the daughter of Louis XII of Fr ...

. In 1590 her husband had to leave Ferrara after Ercole Trotti discovered Bevilacqua's affair with Trotti's wife

Anna Guarini Anna Guarini, Contessa Trotti (1563 – 3 May 1598) was an Italian virtuoso singer of the late Renaissance. She was one of the most renowned singers of the age, and was one of the four '' concerto di donne'' at the Ferrara court of the d' Est ...

, a court singer. Bradamante remained in Ferrara while her husband settled in

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

. He only returned to Ferrara in 1598 after Alfonso's death and Ferrara's incorporation into the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

,Luciano Chiappini, ''Gli Estensi'', Varese, 1988. thanks to intercession from cardinal

Bonifazio Bevilacqua Aldobrandini Bonifazio Bevilacqua Aldobrandini (1571 – 7 April 1627) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal. He was the uncle of Pope Gregory XIV. Biography In 1601, Pope Clement VIII associated Count Luigi Bevilacqua and his two brothers, Conte B ...

, a relation.

Children

Bradamante and Ercole had twelve children: *Ernesto (1578-1624), soldier in the service of the Este family, 1st Marquess of Bismantova and count of

Maccastorna Maccastorna ( Lodigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lodi in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city ...

*Carlo (1579-1640), monk *Eleonora (1580-?) *Francesco (1585-1629), soldier in the service of the Este family, 2nd Marquess of Bismantova and count of Maccastorna *Lucrezia (1587-1607) *Alessandro (1588-1606, count of Maccastorna *Camillo (1590-1593), count of Maccastorna *Sigismondo (1591-1607),

Knight of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

*Eleonora (1593-?), nun *Camilla (1595-?) *Camillo (1597-1645), count of Maccastorna and soldier in the service of the Este family *Margherita, nun

Note

Bibliography

* Pompeo Litta, ''Famiglie celebri d'Italia. D'Este'', Torino, 1835. * Luciano Chiappini, ''Gli Estensi'', Varese, 1988. * Luigi Ughi, ''Dizionario storico degli uomini illustri ferraresi'', Ferrara, 1804.

External links

Love and death in the age of the d'Estes.
{{DEFAULTSORT:dEste, Bradamante

Bradamante Bradamante (occasionally spelled Bradamant) is a fictional knight heroine in two epic poems of the Renaissance: ''Orlando Innamorato'' by Matteo Maria Boiardo and ''Orlando Furioso'' by Ludovico Ariosto. Since the poems exerted a wide influence o ...

1550 births 1624 deaths 16th-century Italian nobility 16th-century Italian women Italian Renaissance people Renaissance women